Ovation balances dance studio looks
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On some occasions, the company’s studio in Sarasota’s bustling Rosemary District, will be turned into a performance space, either for a special dance, or a “behind the scenes” event put on for donors. When this happens those in attendance are invariably dazzled, not only by the graceful moves of the dancers, but also by the colourful and elegantly balanced lighting created with 20 Chauvet Professional Ovation P-56FC fixtures supplied by the New York-based Lighting Design Group.
The studio, which opened in 2018, is stylish and comfortable, but its relatively low ceiling presents a challenge for anyone lighting a dance performance. Fixtures that are relied on to illuminate the dance area are only 11ft off the floor, making it tricky to get optimal light angles.
“Our low ceilings were a big factor in determining our choice of fixtures,” said Michael Sperber, the Sarasota Contemporary Dance stage manager and production consultant. “We have only about an 11ft throw, but we need to light a 20ft by 20ft dance area in the round in any colour with no dimmers, all while not generating noise or heat. Nobody could have imagined doing this 15 years ago, but technology changed things.”
For Sarasota Contemporary Dance, that technology arrived in the form of Ovation P-56FC, recommended by Scott Laurentz and Joshua Aldridge of The Lighting Design Group. “They were extremely helpful,” said Sperber. ‘I also had to deal with specifying and ordering a new sprung floor, sound system, window shades, and theatrical curtains, but thanks to Scott and Josh, getting the lighting rig in and ready to go was the easiest part of the whole process - something I never would have expected.”
The quiet operation of the Ovation P-56FC was critically important to Sperber. “As I mentioned, the fixtures are hanging only about 11 feet off of the floor, so noisy fans would have been greatly disruptive to intimate performances,” he said. “This is not at all a concern with the P-56FC.”
The lighting fixtures at the Sarasota Contemporary Dance studio were purchased with funds from a general capital improvement grant made by The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation.
